Accessability and Language from bjm10_at_cornell.edu on 1999-12-10 (Glorantha Digest Vol 07)

From: bjm10_at_cornell.edu
Date: Fri, 10 Dec 1999 16:03:09 -0500 (EST)

I agree that excessive "nativeness" in applying a conlang to a region of Glorantha can limit its accessability. But used correctly, it can add a great deal of flaver WITHOUT detracting. Let us consider "The Block". Perhaps, in Praxian, "The Block" is called "Pyeknatirí Wakasnánthôr gí'a", which means "The thing that stops the Devil from, nor ever should it be permitted to, walk about again." (I'll do the grammar below for people interested.)

However, it's a big great gigantic BLOCK of Truestone, too. Thus, most maps "translate" the Praxian _Pyeknatirí Wakasnánthôr gí'a_ as "The Block".
(Indeed, in informal speech, some Praxians have taken to calling it
_Pyeki_ "The Block"). Let it begin as "The Block" and let the players learn the more flavorful names as they wish.

Grammar for thems what have interest:

The Praxian language family is highly agglutinative and inflected. It does not have articles separate from the nouns, for example. Instead, nouns are usually modified by means of a suffix. In the simplest example so cited, _pyek-_ is the root for "thing", "chunk", or "block". _Pyekí_ is "the block". _Pyekô_ is "a block". _Pyekan_ is "that block", etc. Note that the particular suffixes are for masculine nouns. Other genders
(like that of _Wakasnánthôr_ "The Devil"--the Chaos-person, literally,
which is of the "wrong" or "bad" gender) have different suffix patterns.

Verbs are usually modified by means of prefixes. However, the verbal component in _Pyeknatirí Wakasnánthôr gí'a_ has a coordinate function, so it is actually adhered to the end of the primary noun. Praxian's case structure includes a "negative imperative continuant", which is used to indicate that an event not only is not true, but that it should be prevented from becoming true. This is normally indicated by the suffix "gí", but since the verbal component is adhered to the first noun, it is put at the end (Praxian is rather strictly Subject-Object-Verb structure, even in fragments that are not sentences).

The interlineal, therefore reads as follows: Pyek na tir rí Wakasnánth ôr place-whereby-walkabout-(definite article) Devil -(definite article)

            gí                        'a

(negative imperative continuant)-(completion article)

But "The Block" is just fine for common usage.